2018 inter-Korean military agreement turns 4 amid uncertain future

Posted on : 2022-09-20 16:50 KST Modified on : 2022-09-20 16:50 KST
The Sept. 19 agreement, as it’s become known, faces an uncertain fate as the Yoon administration pushes to reverse all Moon-era policies on North Korea
Civic groups hold a press conference outside the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, on Sept. 19, the fourth anniversary of the signing of a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, to denounce the current administration’s North Korea policy. (Yonhap)
Civic groups hold a press conference outside the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, on Sept. 19, the fourth anniversary of the signing of a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, to denounce the current administration’s North Korea policy. (Yonhap)

The government and ruling People Power Party (PPP) butted heads on Monday with the Democratic Party over the meaning of the Sept. 19 inter-Korean military agreement and whether South Korea will abide by it in the future. Monday marked the fourth anniversary of the signing of the agreement which, among other points, stipulates measures to prevent accidental military clashes between the two Koreas.

The Sept. 19 agreement, which has served as a safety valve for peace on the Korean Peninsula, is now shaking like a lantern in the wind due to the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s push to erase any traces of the previous government’s inter-Korean policies as well as advancements in North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on Monday that any violation of the agreement by Pyongyang would be met by Seoul based on the principle of reciprocity.

“It is important to mutually implement the Sept. 19 military agreement in line with the aim of easing military tensions between the two Koreas and building trust,” said Moon Hong-shik, deputy spokesperson for the MND, at a regular briefing on Monday.

“I would also like to add that, if North Korea violates the Sept. 19 military agreement, we will respond firmly in accordance with the principle of reciprocity,” Moon added.

In other words, the government is emphasizing the implementation of the Sept. 19 agreement while also threatening to dump the agreement if North Korea violates it in the future.

Officially titled the “Agreement on the Implementation of the Historic Panmunjom Declaration in the Military Domain,” the military agreement in question was announced alongside the Pyongyang Joint Declaration at an inter-Korean summit on Sept. 19, 2018. Its terms included the cessation of hostile activities, the transformation of the DMZ into a peace zone, and steps to build military trust.

Prior to the agreement, there had been around 270 major and minor cases of military tensions and clashes around the Military Demarcation Line separating South and North Korea. After the agreement, that number dropped to two.

But the ruling PPP dismissed the agreement as having “already become just a scrap of paper.”

In a meeting of the party’s interim leadership committee Monday, Chairperson Chung Jin-suk asked, “Does [former President Moon Jae-in] really believe we need to uphold the September 2018 military agreement when North Korea has codified the idea of a preemptive strike against South Korea in its laws?”

“I hope he wakes up from his footbridge illusions,” he added, in a reference to the bridge at Panmunjom where Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un went for a walk and shared a private conversation during the 2018 summit.

The remarks took aim at Moon for his message the previous day stressing the importance of implementing the September 2018 military agreement and Pyongyang Joint Declaration.

The Democratic Party warned that the “clock of peace on the Korean Peninsula has been turned back under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.”

“The Yoon Suk-yeol administration has signaled that it plans to denounce and eliminate each and every policy of the previous administration, but if it approaches inter-Korean relations in such a way, there are no guarantees on the peace and future of the Korean Peninsula,“ warned Democratic Party floor leader Park Hong-keun in a celebratory address for a roundtable held at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building that day to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the agreement’s signing.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs newly christened its conference room at the Central Government Complex in Seoul “Van Fleet Hall.” The room had previously been called the “Peace Hall” under the Moon administration. The new name is a reference to Gen. James Van Fleet, commander of the US Eighth Army during the Korean War.

With its decision to rename the conference room on the fourth anniversary of the September 2018 military agreement, the administration signaled that it is emphasizing the alliance with the US over inter-Korean relations.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter; Sun Dam-eun, staff reporter; Lim Jae-woo, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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